Your season: phases and races

Your season is a macrocycle: a sequence of phases aimed at arriving at the start line (or a health goal) prepared and fresh — not just tired and hopeful.

Training phases

• Base — aerobic foundation plus year-round controlled threshold quality; easy volume elsewhere; light speed/VO2 touches. Brick may extend base when aerobic efficiency is a limiter.
• Build — threshold clustering (including double-threshold days when volume allows), race-specific intensity; bricks appear; limiters get priority work.
• Peak — sharpen race pace; volume may ease slightly while intensity stays purposeful.
• Taper — reduce volume so you arrive fresh. Length scales with event distance.
• Race — race day and immediate surrounds on the calendar.
• Recovery — deliberate deload (for example every few weeks in a maintenance cycle, or after a big race).
• Return — graded comeback after injury, illness, travel, or a training pause.

No A-race?

Without an A-race, Brick holds your proven base fitness for up to 12 months (when Maintain fitness is on) — sustained training with a 3:1 easy/recovery rhythm rather than a single peak. You can add races later and the season will reshape.

A / B / C race priorities

• A-race — a season goal. Every A-race gets its own campaign (base → build → peak → taper when there is runway). Multiple A-races are planned through in order: recover, hold fitness if the gap is long, then rebuild into the next one.
• B-race — tune-up. Expect a mini-taper and a short recovery window, not a full season rebuild. B-races overlay anywhere in the season, including after an A-race.
• C-race— train-through. Race day replaces that day's training; the surrounding week stays largely intact.

On Plan, Season fill controls whether Brick keeps training on the calendar for up to a year after your last campaign. Manage races on the Plan page (Add race opens a full page) and open the race toolkit for race details, pacing, fueling, and taper checklists. Races and race toolkit.

Why phases matter to you

When you open a hard session in Base, it is controlled threshold or a limiter touch — not race simulation. In Peak, the same intensity has a different job: sharpness and specificity. Understanding the phase helps you trust the week instead of second-guessing every hard day.